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Joe Don Baker
ACTOR

Joe Don Baker

Known for Bonanza · Mission: Impossible · Ironside

Joe Don Baker (February 12, 1936 - May 7, 2025) was an American film actor, perhaps best known for his roles as a Mafia hitman in Charley Varrick, real-life Tennessee sheriff Buford Pusser in Walking Tall, James Bond villain Brad Whitaker in The Living Daylights, and CIA agent Jack Wade in the James Bond films GoldenEye and Tomorrow Never Dies.

Snapshot 2026-10-15

Born
Feb 12, 1936
Died
May 7, 2025
Birthplace
Groesbeck, Texas, USA
Known For
Acting

Biography

Joe Don Baker (February 12, 1936 - May 7, 2025) was an American film actor, perhaps best known for his roles as a Mafia hitman in Charley Varrick, real-life Tennessee sheriff Buford Pusser in Walking Tall, James Bond villain Brad Whitaker in The Living Daylights, and CIA agent Jack Wade in the James Bond films GoldenEye and Tomorrow Never Dies.

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Known For

TVBonanza
BonanzaLuke Harper · 1959
★ 7.5
TVMission: Impossible
Mission: ImpossibleFrank Kearney · 1966
★ 7.6
TVIronside
IronsideEric Blair · 1967
★ 6.8

Filmography

Movies

Cool Hand LukeFixer
1967
Guns of the Magnificent SevenSlater
1969
Adam at Six A.M.Harvey Gavin
1970
Mongo's Back in TownMongo Nash
1971
Welcome Home, Soldier BoysDanny
1971
Wild RoversPaul Buckman
1971
Junior BonnerCurly Bonner
1972
That Certain SummerPhil Bonner
1972
The Valachi PapersIrish member of Valachi gang (uncredited)
1972
Charley VarrickMolly
1973
The OutfitJack Cody
1973
Walking TallBuford Pusser
1973
Golden NeedlesDan Mason
1974
FramedRon Lewis
1975
MitchellMitchell
1975
Checkered Flag or CrashWalkaway Madden
1977
SpeedtrapPete Novick
1977
The PackJerry
1977
The Shadow of ChikaraWishbone Cutter
1977
To Kill a CopChief Earl M. Eischied
1978
WackoDick Harbinger
1982
JoysticksJoseph Rutter
1983
Final JusticeDeputy Sheriff Thomas Jefferson Geronimo III
1984
The NaturalThe Whammer
1984
FletchChief Jerry Karlin
1985
Getting EvenKing R. Kenderson
1986
Leonard Part 6Snyderburn
1987
The Abduction of Kari SwensonSheriff Onstad
1987
The Killing TimeCarl Cunningham
1987
The Living DaylightsBrad Whitaker
1987
Criminal LawDetective Mesel
1989
Defrosting the FridgeHunter McCall
1989
The ChildrenCliffe Wheater
1990
Cape FearClaude Kersek
1991
Citizen CohnSen. Joseph McCarthy
1992
The Distinguished GentlemanOlaf Andersen
1992
Complex of FearDet. Frank Farrel
1993
Reality BitesTom Pierce
1994
Ring of SteelMan in Black
1994
CongoR.B. Travis
1995
GoldenEyeJack Wade
1995
PantherBrimmer
1995
The UnderneathClay Hinkle
1995
FelonyDonovan
1996
Mars Attacks!Glenn Norris
1996
The Grass HarpSheriff Junius Candle
1996
The Siege at Ruby RidgeGerry Spence
1996
George WallaceBig Jim Folsom
1997
To Dance with OliviaHorace
1997
Tomorrow Never DiesWade
1997
Poodle SpringsP.J. Parker
1998
Inside 'The Living Daylights'Self
2000
Inside The Living DaylightsSelf
2000
Joe DirtDon, Brandy's Dad (uncredited)
2001
Vegas, City of DreamsDylan Garrett
2001
The CommissionRep. Hale Boggs
2003
Sam Peckinpah's West: Legacy of a Hollywood RenegadeSelf (archive footage)
2004
The Dukes of HazzardGovernor Jim Applewhite
2005
The 50 Greatest Television DramasSelf
2007
Strange WildernessBill Calhoun
2008
MudKing
2013

Television

GunsmokeWoody Stoner · 1 eps
1955
GunsmokeTom Butler · 1 eps
1955
BonanzaLuke Harper · 1 eps
1959
Honey WestRocky Hansen · 1 eps
1965
The Big ValleyTom Lightfoot · 1 eps
1965
The F.B.I.Alex Drake · 1 eps
1965
Felony SquadShep Taubs · 1 eps
1966
Mission: ImpossibleFrank Kearney · 1 eps
1966
IronsideEric Blair · 1 eps
1967
Judd, for the DefenseMerl Varney · 1 eps
1967
The High ChaparralYuma · 1 eps
1967
LancerDay Pardee · 1 eps
1968
LancerSantee · 1 eps
1968
LancerClovis Horner · 1 eps
1968
The Mod SquadWillie Turner · 1 eps
1968
The OutsiderBilly Joe Corey · 1 eps
1968
The Streets of San FranciscoLeonard Collier Cord · 1 eps
1972
Doc ElliotAaron Hickey · 1 eps
1973
To Kill a CopChief Earl Eischied · 2 eps
1978
EischiedEarl Eischied · 13 eps
1979
PowerTommy Vanda · 2 eps
1980
Edge of DarknessDarius Jedburgh · 6 eps
1985
Screen TwoHunter McCall · 1 eps
1985
The Siege at Ruby RidgeGerry Spence · 2 eps
1996
George WallaceBig Jim Folsom · 2 eps
1997
Too Rich: The Secret Life of Doris DukeBuck Duke · 4 eps
1999

Photos

Joe Don Baker photo
Joe Don Baker photo
Joe Don Baker photo
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